Japanese runners
capture Ko'olau Trek
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Tatsuo Yuasa looks behind at Alvara Palacios before leaving the field behind.

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Tatsuo Yuasa and Azumi Miyasaki are the first to finish the 10-mile H-3 race

By Pat Bigold
Star-Bulletin

They picked Mother's Day to stage the Mother of All Races.

But the 10-mile Great Trans Ko'olau Trek road race over the unopened H-3 freeway yesterday fell far short of being the mega-event promised by organizers.

Originally promoted as a 100,000-runner event, the largest timed footrace in history, with world class elite athletes competing up front for a prize purse of $100,000, it panned out as scenic fun run. The pre-race registration number, according to one timing official, was more than 17,200 but less than 18,000.

There was no figure available last night on how many actually showed up or how many finished the race. Only the top 10 men's and women's results were released yesterday. Sam Aucoin, a timing official, said the rest will be made available in a few days.

There were no world class runners in any of the four waves that took off between 7 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. from the starting line on the Kaneohe side of the freeway, and there was zero money awarded. Even the best locally based runner, Ethiopian expatriate Tesfaye Bekele, failed to show up despite being listed as a starter.

The surprise men's and women's winners crossing the Aloha Stadium finish line were Japanese runners Tatsuo Yuasa and Azumi Miyazaki.

Yuasa of Kanagawa, Japan, overtook early leader Alvaro Palacios of Utah during a steep uphill climb toward the two-mile marker. The slightly built Yuasa quickly opened a football field-length lead and stretched it out on the muscular-legged Palacios after passing the steepest juncture of the course at three miles and starting downhill.

Yuasa finished in 51 minutes and 24 seconds - one minute and 39 seconds ahead of Japan's Keiji Negishi.

Palacios, who faded to finish seventh in 54:31, said he arrived in town still believing that there was a prize money purse of $100,000 that went 15 deep for men and women.

The Star-Bulletin reported last week that several top runners had spurned the H-3 race when their agents discovered the prize purse had disappeared.

Palacios said that his last assurance that there was a purse was received from race officials not much more than month ago.

On the women's side, prerace favorite Amy (Legacki) Manson, who was one of the few elite runners whose air fare and accommodations were paid for by the H-3 race, jumped out to an early lead.

But Miyazaki of Chiba, Japan, caught Manson in the first tunnel. On the downhill side of the tunnel, Manson retook the lead but lost it for good at about the five-mile mark.

Miyazaki finished in 57:50 and Manson, who is in the midst of the pro track season, was second in 59:08.

"It was hard out there," said Manson, who celebrated her 28th birthday by competing.

"I've never run downhill for six miles so my legs started getting wobbly after a while. My lungs were OK but I have long legs and it was hard to get the turnaround. I tried to watch her (feet) and put my feet down at the same time as hers to get the quick turnaround but I couldn't do it with my legs."

Manson's husband, Patrick, who was America's No. 1 ranked pole vaulter in 1996, arrived at the stadium from a Grand Prix competition in Japan just in time to embrace his wife at the finish.

"I came in second in my meet in Japan and I'm embarrassed to say how I did," Manson said. "Only 17 feet, 8 inches."

The Mansons were married on March 22.

Asked if their brief stay in Hawaii was a honeymoon extension, a beaming Amy Manson said, "We're going to be on a honeymoon for a long time."

n NOTES: There were only three wheelchair competitors. Ron Amundson of Hawaii won in 1:10:07 ... The H-3 course was finally certified Saturday afternoon by USA Track and Field official Tom Ferguson ... Some of the problems that popped up at yesterday's race: Scarcity of toilets on the Halawa side of the freeway, absence of any mile marker signs, and the failure of more than half the course officials to show up ... An insensitive crowd control volunteer ordering a woman lying on the turf of the stadium with a severe case of leg cramps, "You'll have to move out of the way." ... On the plus side, several runners commented that the race itself flowed smoothly and there were no major problems enroute to the stadium.

By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Thousands of runners take off on the Great Trans Ko'olau Trek up the H-3 yesterday morning.

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A nice way to spend Mother's Day

By Jack Wyatt
Special to the Star-Bulletin

Noah Chong, 5, and his brother Sean, 4, stood proud as mom, Ginger Chong, 33, arrived at the Aloha Stadium finish yesterday after completing H-3 Great Trans Koolau Trek from Kaneohe.

"They greeted me with Mother's Day gifts and showered me with hugs and kisses," said the 33-year Honolulu mom, who was running her first race ever. "And best of all, my husband Steve paid for my entry and baby sat while I ran."

Barbara Nall received long stem roses from husband Rusty and her two children after finishing the hilly 10-mile run.

"A unique but healthy way to begin this special day," the Kaneohe runner said.

Although runners from Japan swept both men's and women's overall titles, it was the running moms on their day that helped make this race a success.

Lisa and Terry Tubridy wanted to spend Mother's Day as a family, so they packed daughter Meg, 2, into her hi-tech stroller and charged off.

"I dropped Terry at four miles, and with stroller in hand, picked up the pace," said Lisa, a very physically fit Marine Corps major in training for this summer's Tinman Triathlon.

"A spectacular and beautiful run," Tubridy said after her two-hour effort.

Bruce and Geri O'Krepki of Louisiana came here especially to run. "At home on Mother's Day we'd probably boil up a pot of crayfish, lay back and relax with our 4-

year-old daughter Molly," said Bruce.

"I'm glad our entire family could take part. The beauty of the run was beyond our expectations."

The O'Krepkis shared the stroller pushing chores.

Many middle-of-the-pack participants - the O'Krepkis included - took time to shoot pictures at scenic points. "We went through several rolls of film. This run will make our vacation," Geri O'Krepki said.

Colorado's Heidi Smits, 40 and a mother of two girls, left her children with her in-laws and ran.

"My choice," Smits said, "I could have had a Mother's Day brunch at our resort hotel, or run for fitness and burn calories. I feel better choosing the latter."

Smits also noted that she couldn't care less about the controversy generated by the trek through the Ko'olaus, which included the run's excessive entry fee; lower than expected turnout; no prize money for elite runners and the Hawaiian community protests.

"It was one of my most beautiful runs ever. And I come from an area where the scenery is pretty spectacular," the Boulder runner said after her 1:55 effort.

With a gradual uphill in the beginning, followed by a long run through a tunnel, and finishing with a leg-aching downhill, completing the course was no easy task.

"I'm visiting my chiropractor, podiatrist, and perhaps even my psychiatrist the first chance I get," said Honolulu's Connie Comiso-Fanelli, 41, a mother 18-month-old Gary, Jr.

"The uphill wasn't bad," she said, "but running fast down hill on hard pavement was awful tough on the legs. I've earned my Mother's Day brunch."

Comiso-Fanelli, who left Gary Jr. with a friend while she ran, finished second among Hawaii women in 1:06:44.

Honolulu's Paul Butterfield, 27, an athletic apparel salesman, finished third overall and was first among Hawaii men in 53:11.

"I ran a marathon last week in New Zealand and my legs were still tired," he said, somewhat disappointed with his time.

Germany's Mareike Ressing, 26, a University of Hawaii graduate student, finished fifth among women and first among local wahines.

"The hills were the hardest of any race I've run here," she said after her 1:04:46 finish.

Kawika Scaff, 17, a Kamehameha Schools senior, was another runner who found the run tiring.

"I ran my fastest mile ever at a track meet on Saturday. My legs felt the effects," he said after his 1:10:35 finish.

Jan Lambert of Sacramento, Calif., after beating her husband John to the Aloha Stadium finish yesterday by a whopping 13 minutes, really put her Mother's Day clout to the test.

"I'm hoping that he'll still speak to me," she said. The Lamberts walked away hand-in-hand.

Joy Secritario of Kaneohe, who left her 5-year-old triplets (two girls and a boy) with their father, found the scenery outstanding but the course conditions difficult.

"The upgrade was a killer (on my legs) and the tunnel was hot and humid. I can hardly wait to sit down to my special Mother's Day brunch," she said with a sigh.

For many moms yesterday's Mother's Day run was no breakfast in bed with roses and champagne.